Over one million people in the United States and over forty-two million people worldwide are legally blind. Even more people suffer from low or reduced vision. For this large population, simple daily tasks such as traveling, leaving the house to attend social events, or simply running errands, can be quite daunting tasks. The vision aids that have been developed in the past are large and bulky, and have drawn attention to the fact that the user had an impairment. Thus, there is a need in the art of vision aids for a new and useful handheld system that avoids or minimizes the disadvantages of past vision aids. This invention provides such a new and useful handheld aid.